By Elisa Goyenechea for La Nacíon

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21V (21Voices) is an avant-garde and innovative choir. Under the artistic direction of Argentinean Martín Benvenuto, based in San Francisco, 21V seeks to be “a catalyst for change,” stretching conventional artistic boundaries. Its originality consists of performing poetry and music “from the three Americas,” composed in the 21st century. In addition, 21V is a select ensemble of treble voices inclusive of all gender identities. Hence, "racial justice," a historical claim in the U.S. and predominant since 2013 with Black Lives Matter, has been its spearhead in the preview in November 2021. On that occasion, "Praise Song for Tulsa" commemorated the hundredth anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre (Oklahoma), when the most prosperous African-American community in the U.S. was literally swept away by white mobs in May 1921.

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A century later, despite 300 deaths, hundreds of injured, and 35 blocks destroyed by fire, no one has been prosecuted nor sentenced, and no African-American has been compensated. Viola Fletcher, the oldest survivor of the massacre (107 years old), gave her testimony about the massacre before the Congress Commission, in May of last year.

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The task of establishing the memory of silent tragic events, which still awaits recognition and justice, requires a receptive sensitivity towards those left behind. 

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By Elisa Goyenechea

Ph.D. in Political Science, B.A. in Philosophy